Are You Using Outdated Equipment?

Skip likes to chase a ball and he is too good at bringing it back to me. I don’t always have time to kick it again and he gets bored. Many times he will just lie down and chew it up, but that doesn’t keep him from wanting me to kick it for him! Most of the time I try just to keep him happy but it isn’t much of a challenge since it doesn’t kick very well, it doesn’t go very far and it certainly doesn’t bounce this way and that. He still loves the attention.

This old ball reminded me of some agents I work with here in West Michigan. Many times I see very nice homes listed on Lake Michigan, Muskegon Lake, Bear Lake, Twin Lake, and White Lake that I am sure are drop dead gorgeous. The problem is, the agents are using the wrong camera to take pictures. It is kind of like Skip’s ball. We end up looking at pictures of the corner of the room or we see a chair or just a door. Bathrooms are the worst. No one wants to see a picture of a shower curtain or just a stool. Many times they are too dark to see anything! Why post pictures you can not see?

I realize some agents are working bank-owned, foreclosed homes and the asset managers don't care about the quality of the pictures but the buyers certainly do! These days buyers want pictures that show the facts of the house, the size of the rooms and any doorways that may lead to another room. They want to get a feel for the layout before they call to set up a showing. They are not interested in photos that just document that you were actually there.

There are cameras out there that are designed to take nice pictures of rooms. They have wide angle lenses that capture the size of the rooms and give you a feeling of how spacious they are and many times what room is next to it. My favorite is the Kodak V-570. It has a nice wide angle as well as good zoom capabilities. It is also small enough to slip into a pocket. Kodak doesn’t make this model anymore but they are available on eBay most of the time and at a good price!

I would also be interested in knowing what other agents are using that provide a nice wide angle shot.

Just a reminder, Don’t bring an inappropriate camera to a listing presentation!

Hopefully no one is still using cameras with film! Why not?

Bring the appropriate tools to get the job done, Correctly!